Stay With Me
by Lisa Moulton
Summary: A bungled save puts Lisa in a coma and makes Gary lose all faith. Can he pull himself out of it before the shooter tries again? Crossover with Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye.
1. Another Day At the Office

**Disclaimer: AL I own. _Early Edition_ and _Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye_ I do not. This can be considered the sequel to my own _On the Side of Angels_.**

**In-Jokes: "Stay With Me" is the title of a very beautiful Josh Gracing song. Nine months (plus three years to coincide with the air date of _Sue Thomas_) is how long after I met my husband that he joined the marines. Martina McBride was in the _EE_ ep, "Play It Again, Sammo". Rascal Flatts is my favorite band; the song they're singing is "From Time to Time".**

_Chapter One: Another Day At the Office_

It had been three years and nine months since Gary Hobson had met the girl who changed his life forever. Her name was Lisa, and she was an alien from the planet Alnilam. While attempting to rescue her from a mad scientist those three years and change ago, he fell hopelessly in love and, to this day, she's been helping him in dealing with getting tomorrow's news today.

"The scaffolding's gonna fall in less than two minutes, hurry up!"

Gary and Lisa rushed into the Chicago Performing Arts Center, country music filtering through the building. The place was being painted, and was open during the minor renovations. Unfortunately, according to the paper, the scaffolding being used wasn't secured properly and it collapses on top of the unsuspecting artists within, sending one to the hospital with major injuries and a concussion.

"This is almost like the time I had to save Martina McBride from a falling stage light…" Gary quipped as they ran to the main auditorium.

"Did you get her autograph?"

Gary gave his girlfriend a look, and she responded with a smile and shrug. Now that they were closer, the words to the song could be heard more clearly now.

"_You'll always be_…"

"_You'll always be_…"

"_Oh, the one for me. I think of you from time to time and in between_…"

Lisa and Gary burst through the door just in time to see the scaffolding teeter precariously. Three men were singing beneath it, oblivious.

Gary and Lisa exchanged glances. "Ready?" he said. "Go!"

Lisa raced to the scaffolding and immediately clamped her telekinetic powers onto it, struggling to hold it in place. "Gary, hurry," she said, strained. "I can't hold it…"

Gary ran to the three musicians and said, "Guys, this scaffolding's gonna fall. You gotta move or you'll get hurt."

"Whoa, how do you know?" asked one of them.

"Look how it's shaking," said Gary. "Come on…"

"Gary!" Lisa shrieked, the scaffolding wobbling dangerously. "I can't!" She, instead, focused on moving everyone else out of the way. "Look out!" she cried, and a short burst of her telekinetics was just enough to get them all moving, though accidentally throwing them to the ground just as the scaffolding fell.

"Whoa," said one of the musicians, starting to stand. "Wow, they saved our lives."

Gary helped Lisa to her feet, and that's when she finally got a good look at the group they'd just saved. The shriek that escaped her mouth this time was one of surprise and joy.

"Rascal Flatts! It wasn't kidding!"

Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney – better known as the country group Rascal Flatts – all looked at each other.

Lisa pushed on and pulled something from the pocket of her red jacket. It was a CD and a Sharpie. "I hate to ask, but could I have your autograph?"

LeVox said, "You saved our lives. I think it's the least we can do."

"Are you sure we can't do anything else?" asked Jay, handing her back the CD once he, LeVox and Joe Don had signed it.

Gary and Lisa looked at each other and smiled, and Gary repeated the same thing he'd said to Martina four years ago. "You could finish the song."

The three musicians grinned. "Hit it!" said LeVox.

"_There'll never be minute of the day I won't think of you. My feelings are so strong in me; I feel it through and through. There'll never be a night that's so dark that we won't shine, or a dream that we've lost that we can't find. You'll always be, oh, the one for me. I think of you from time to time and in between_…"

_End chapter one._


	2. The First Meeting

**In-Jokes: _The Miracle Worker_ is one of my favorite movies.**

_Chapter Two: The First Meeting_

"Okay, how did you do that?"

"Natural talent. They'll never forget us."

Lisa and Gary were heading towards the park, where the paper said a dog would be getting run over. Lisa had two tickets and backstage passes to tomorrow night's concert held tightly in her hands, her autographed CD was securely in her pocket and an ecstatic gleam lit up her eyes.

She was humming Rascal Flatts songs as the duo scanned the park for dogs. The problem was there were dozens of them.

"Hm," murmured Lisa, pocketing her prizes. "Does it say what kind of dog?"

Gary scanned the paper. "Uh…a golden retriever named 'Levi'."

"Okay…I think we should go to the side of the park along the street. If Levi's gonna run into it, we should be ready."

They split up and walked along the side of the park, keeping an eye out for the runaway or anything resembling one.

_See anything?_ Lisa telepathically asked Gary via their link.

_Lots of dogs and people,_ he replied. _It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack._

_Same here._

They searched for five minutes before meeting up again. Gary re-checked the paper, saw that the article was still there, and searched it for a time.

"It doesn't say when he was hit."

Lisa grunted. "Okay, I'm gonna go upstairs and take a look. Be right back." She shimmered out of everyone's view by activating her power of invisibility and took to the sky, yellow-gold wings flapping hard to get her aloft. Once in the air, she cut the power, for using it too much would drain it considerably and it would need to recharge before she could use it again.

In the air, she looked around, searching for anything resembling a runaway dog. Moments later, she found it.

A golden retriever was chasing a ball and was heading straight for the busy street. Lisa glanced to where Gary was and shouted telepathically, _Gary! Golden retriever, three o'clock!_

She watched Gary turn and head for the dog. Unfortunately, he was too far away. Lisa went invisible again and dove behind a tree, cutting the power to limit it to her wings, and ran as fast as she could to the dog. She could now hear a woman shouting, "Levi! Levi, stop!"

"Stop!" Lisa called to the dog. She didn't quite tackle him, but she did grab him just as the ball started to bounce into the street. Gary ran up and caught it in midair just before an SUV would have turned it into a rubber pancake.

A pretty blonde young woman came running to them, calling, "Levi! Levi, bad dog." Something about her voice was a little off; she had an odd sort of accent.

The woman looked at Lisa and Gary in turn while bending down to clasp a leash onto the dog's collar. "Thank you," she said, straightening. "Thank you. I don't know what I would've done if he'd gotten hit."

"Hey, no problem," said Lisa, frowning a little. The woman seemed to focus on her lips as she spoke. "We were just in the right place at the right time."

"I'm Sue," said the woman. "Sue Thomas. This is my hearing dog, Levi."

Levi barked a greeting.

"Hearing dog?" echoed Gary, handing the ball to her.

"I'm deaf."

Lisa's eyes widened. So, she was lip-reading. "Wow! It's an honor and a pleasure. I'm Lisa, and this is my boyfriend, Gary." Haltingly, she spelled out her and Gary's name using American Sign Language, faltering a little on the "g" and making sure she made the distinction between the "a" and the "s" – the thumb points up for the "a" and forms a fist for the "s".

"Hello," said Sue.

"You know sign language?" asked Gary.

"A little," said Lisa, smiling. "_The Miracle Worker_ is a favorite movie of mine. Well, Ms. Thomas – "

"Sue, please," she insisted.

Lisa's grin got bigger. "Sue…I'm glad we could help." She patted Levi and nudged Gary.

He knew what she wanted him to say. "Look, uh, if you're ever in the neighborhood, come to McGinty's." Lisa was spelling out the name beside him. "It's a bar and restaurant I own. Bring a friend."

Sue smiled. "I'm visiting from D.C. with my roommate, Lucy. Maybe we'll stop by."

"Bring Levi," chimed in Lisa. "Gary's partner's blind. She has a seeing-eye dog, Reilly." Once again, she spelled the name, this time stumbling a little on the "e". "He's a golden retriever, too. They could be friends."

"You're enjoying this," Gary noted.

"We'll see you there," said Sue, smiling again.

_End chapter two._


	3. The Shot Heard Around the World

_Chapter Three: The Shot Heard Around the World_

It was early evening by the time Gary and Lisa finally returned to McGinty's, tired but satisfied with their accomplishments for the day. They'd just prevented a pile-up two streets down that would have sent a dozen people to the hospital.

Gary plopped himself onto a barstool and ordered them dinner while Lisa went around to the staff, letting them know about a potential visit from the deaf Sue Thomas and her roommate and dog.

"You know," Lisa said as she finally seated herself beside Gary. "That name sounds so familiar."

"What name?" came the voice of Gary's partner, Marissa Clark, tapping her cane as she walked over to them, Reilly the dog in tow.

"Sue Thomas. We stopped her dog from getting run over in the park. Something about that name sounds awfully familiar. She's deaf. We invited her to come here." She suddenly grinned big. "_And_ we met Rascal Flatts." She pulled the tickets and CD out of her pocket. "Concert!" she said, giggling. She put the CD in a little alcove behind the bar, but re-pocketed her tickets. "Tomorrow night." She was practically bouncing on her stool with giddiness. "I can't wait."

Gary simply shook his head, digging into his burger and fries that had been set out in front of him.

Several minutes later, a golden retriever who was not Reilly ran up and put his front paws on Lisa's lap, barking a greeting.

She looked down, and grinned. "Levi! Hey, you. Is Sue here?"

Levi barked, and what Lisa – with her ability to understand animals – heard was, "**_She sent me over here."_** He looked over his shoulder, and there was Sue Thomas standing next to an African American woman, both smiling. They waved and Lisa waved back. "Gary, they're here." She practically dragged him over to the two women, Levi trotting behind them.

"Lisa, Gary," said Sue, "this is my roommate, Lucy Dotson. Lucy, these are the people I was telling you about."

"Nice to meet you," said Lucy, shaking Lisa and Gary's hands, then she looked around. "This is some place. You own it?"

"Yep," said Gary. "How about we get you a table?"

"So, you stopped Levi from getting hit by a car?" asked Lucy as the couple led them into the restaurant.

Lisa turned and walked backwards so Sue could read what she was saying. "We were just in the right place at the right time. I love animals; I can't bear to see anything happen to someone's pet."

They seated the two women at a table and Gary summoned a waitress to take their order. At their request, Lisa and Gary sat with them and started chatting. Reilly the dog wandered over and he and Levi sniffed at each other in greeting. Marissa made her way over, too, and Gary introduced her to Lucy and Sue.

"Deaf, huh?" she said. "Yes, I know the feeling of living with a handicap."

They spent a few more minutes discussing their pros and cons of the blind-and-deafness, and that's when Sue mentioned that she and Lucy worked for the FBI. Impressed, Lisa, Gary and Marissa asked questions about what it was like and so on.

Marissa was soon called away for a phone call while Sue excused herself to the restroom, Lisa and Gary pointing her in the right direction, and soon their discussions were interrupted by a "Meow!" from the orange tabby cat that brought tomorrow's newspaper to Gary's door every morning as it rubbed up against Lisa's leg. While Reilly was used to it by now, Levi regarded it with interest, snuffling.

"Down, boy," said Lucy, hearing and noticing the cat.

Levi whined, still eyeing the cat.

The cat hissed. "**_Who brought that flea-bag?"_** it asked, glaring at Levi. "**_One around here is enough."_**

"Chill," said Lisa.

The cat eyed Levi warily. "**_Well, whatever. One of you may want to check that paper."_** It proceeded to disappear behind the bar.

Lisa and Gary exchanged a look. _Paper,_ she said. Aloud, to Lucy, she said, "Sorry, he…doesn't like strange dogs." Gary, meanwhile, excused himself so he could peruse the paper for whatever the cat wanted him to see.

Lucy and Lisa continued chatting when, suddenly, a panicked Gary shouted, "Get down!" just as a black-clad man with a ski mask over his face pulled a gun and fired two shots into the air.

"Nobody move!" he shouted, a foreign accent coating his words.

The two women dove underneath the table, huddling with Levi and Reilly. Lisa locked eyes with Gary, who relayed to her, _This_ _wasn't_ _here before. Sue and Lucy are gonna be shot_…

Fire lit her eyes. _Not if I can help it._

_Lisa_…

As if on cue, Sue walked out of the bathroom, oblivious to the peril outside. The man trained his gun on her, shouting, "Don't move or I'll shoot! Get down, get down on the floor!"

Sue didn't move; the ski mask was hindering her ability to read lips.

"She can't hear – " Lucy started to say.

"Shut up!" he commanded. "You!" he shouted, waving the gun at Sue, "get _down_ on the floor, bitch!"

Sue still couldn't understand what he wanted; his body language was too erratic for her to figure it out. All she could do was raise her hands in the classic "I'm unarmed" gesture.

The man cocked the gun. "I said _down_, you c – "

_Sue, down!_ Lisa shouted telepathically, causing the deaf woman to start.

What happened next all blurred together. Just as the attacker pulled the trigger, Lisa flew from her position on the floor to block Sue from the bullets.

_Sue, get down!_ she shouted once more, this time colliding with her and yanking her down so she'd get the message. However, what was pulling her down was the fact that she'd taken three shots and was now on the floor, unconscious.

_End chapter three._


	4. Rock Bottom

**In-Jokes: Officer Bradshaw is a shout-out to my husband. He was a regular listener to Z100's "Phone Tap". Officer Bradshaw was one of the reoccuring characters played by someone on the Z-Morning Zoo whose name escapes me for the moment.**

_Chapter Four: Rock Bottom_

Gary had blacked out when Lisa had been shot; through their link, he'd felt the bite of the bullets as if he'd been the one shot instead, and the shock knocked him out. When he came to, he saw one of the waitresses emptying the contents of the register into a sack held by the robber. Glancing over to where Lisa and Sue were, he saw Sue on the floor as still as a statue and Lisa lying beside her, bleeding from her shoulder and leg. Were it not for the link telling him otherwise, he could have sworn she was dead.

"No…" he whispered, tears filling his eyes. His chest, shoulder and left leg were burning with pain.

The attacker backed away from the register, pointing his gun around at anyone who took his fancy. He was headed for the door when the sirens could be heard. The attacker panicked and made a hasty exit. Looking out the windows, the people inside could see the police give chase while another officer came inside.

"I'm Officer Bradshaw. Is everyone all right?" he asked. "Is anyone hurt?"

Gary didn't seem to hear the officer. All he could do was stare at Lisa's motionless body. Luckily, Lucy and Sue remained clear-headed. Lucy explained to the officer what happened, pointing at Lisa's still form, and he radioed for an ambulance, then began taking statements.

Sue reported, her hands near Lisa's nose, "She's still breathing."

Gary was barely aware that he was pulling Sue's hands away from Lisa's neck, lest she feel the double pulse. He took her up into his arms and tried to stop the bleeding in her leg and shoulder. He forgot about the paper, about the robber, about everything. He just wanted Lisa to be okay.

"Lisa," he whispered hoarsely, more tears slipping from his eyes. "Lisa, talk to me…" Getting no response, he tried telepathy. _Lisa, can you hear me? Lisa, please say something_…

Nothing.

Marissa finally came out of the office. "I heard the shot and called the police," she explained. "Is everyone all right?"

"Lisa's been shot," Gary croaked.

"What!" Marissa shouted, incredulous, hardly believing it herself. She knew of Lisa's origins, and this was unheard of.

Sue placed her hand on Gary's arm. "Gary, we'll get her to the hospital," she said softly. "She'll be okay."

"Hospital…" Gary murmured, not really hearing what she was saying. Hospitals, right. They helped fix things like this, yeah. Lisa would be taken to a hospital; they'd find what's wrong and fix it. Yeah, a hospital…

It clicked then. Lisa couldn't be taken to a hospital! They'd find out she wasn't human.

"No," Gary said. "No hospitals…no she can't – "

Lucy had come over and mistook Gary's distress for something other than what it was. "Gary," she said, "don't worry. She'll be fine. We'll get her help."

"No, y-you don't understand," said Gary, so upset now he was stuttering. "She c…s-she can't go to a h-hospital."

He shot a pointed look at Marissa, and Sue and Lucy exchanged concerned looks. Gary insisted, "She can't…"

He firmly believed that bringing Lisa to a hospital would cause more harm than good, however, here she was with bullets in her and there was no way he'd be able to take care of them himself.

_End chapter four._


	5. Blast from the Past

**In-Jokes: Bruce the EMT, where Lisa was shot, stall 8 and the three nurses are all from the_ Doctor Who Movie_. Pete was in _On the Side of Angels_ and his last name is a slight nod to Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor in _Doctor Who_.**

_Chapter Five: Blast from the Past_

Gary was excused from talking with the police due to his girlfriend being the victim of a shooting. Riding in the ambulance was more nerve-wracking than the attack itself, mostly because of the questions the EMTs were asking, plus, he was still numb from shock.

"What's her name?" asked the male EMT, a tall, skinny fellow with dark hair named Bruce, according to his nametag.

"Huh?" asked Gary, mostly staring at Lisa. "Oh…Lisa." He tried to hinder anymore questions with questions of his own. "How is she?"

"Stable. She took three shots…one in her right shoulder and two in her left leg."

Gary knew. His own shoulder and leg were throbbing; even after three years and change, he still wasn't very talented in the locking-things-out side of the link.

"Her heart seems a little wild, though."

Gary idly rubbed his chest, where he could feel Lisa's double heartbeat. It didn't feel wild at all…it was irregular, for her, especially the right one. However, he figured it was probably because Bruce's stethoscope couldn't distinguish between one heart and the other, and that's why it sounded faster than normal.

Once at the hospital, Lisa was wheeled from the ambulance into the ER reception area. Bruce was talking to three people – two women and a man – in white lab coats while Gary looked on dazedly.

"Name's Lisa. Mid-twenties. Three gunshot wounds and heart going like crazy," said Bruce, speaking quickly.

"Get her into stall eight!" shouted the man.

Gary was going to follow when one of the nurses stopped him. "Sir, I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait."

"But…" he began.

"Sorry," said the nurse, disappearing where they took Lisa.

Gary found himself in a corridor, pacing it up and down, trying desperately to contact Lisa over their link. He got no response, and the echoing ­_thump-thump_ of Lisa's right heart in his chest wasn't feeling at all like it normally should be.

He had no idea how long he was waiting when a voice behind him made him jump.

"I thought you two looked familiar," it said.

Gary turned and saw a young man with sandy-colored hair standing behind him, holding a clipboard. The nametag on his coat identified him as "DR. PETER DAVIS".

"Howzat?" asked Gary, puzzled and still very much affected by Lisa's predicament.

"You don't remember me? I'm the guy you stole the Doc's serum from to break her out of the Institute."

"Huh?" Gary blinked, then finally looked at the nametag, and it clicked. "…Pete?"

"Right," he said. "I don't know whether to thank you or punch you in the nose."

Gary arched an eyebrow. "Look…my girlfriend…how is she?"

Pete stood with his arms crossed for half a minute before consulting the clipboard. "She's stable. We removed the bullets. The head honcho, here, wanted to cut her open to see why she was '_fibrillating'_, but I talked him out of it."

"You talked…what?" Gary was becoming more and more confused, then he shook his head. "Can I see her? Please?"

Pete regarded him, then spun on his heel. "Follow me."

The young doctor led Gary down the halls of the hospital into an isolated room with a sign on the door that read "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" and a keycard entry pad on the doorknob. Pete used a card from his pocket and some kind of PIN number to open it.

Inside the room was a single bed and non-working hospital machines. In the bed, lying unconscious, was Lisa.

Gary rushed to her side and took her hand in both of his. "Oh, Lisa…" he whispered, tears forming once again in his eyes. He bent over her and gently kissed her. "Lisa…please come back to me…"

Once more, she offered no response. Pete shut the door behind them.

"Now are you ready to listen?"

_End chapter five._


	6. In the OR

**In-Jokes: Everything that happened to Lisa in the OR happened to the Doctor in the _Movie _(with the exception that Lisa didn't go into cardiac arrest :p). Her binary vascular system is from the _Doctor Who_ episode "Dalek" and all the mad scientist and Parkinson's business is in _On the Side of Angels_.**

_Chapter Six: In the OR_

"When she was brought in, she was x-rayed. Everyone else thought it was a double exposure. I knew differently, though."

Pete handed Gary – who was sitting beside Lisa on her bed, holding her hand – an x-ray of Lisa's chest, where two hearts showed clearly on the negative.

"We removed the bullets, but the nurses thought her heartbeat was erratic and thought she was fibrillating. They wanted to bring in the cardiologist on call, but, luckily, I have some…pull with the RN, so I talked them out of it. Lucky, too, 'cause who knows what could've happened if the surgeons went poking around her binary vascular system."

Gary just stared, not really comprehending what he was hearing.

"Dude, wake up! I trained under Dr. Walter Von Braun. Remember him? The scientist whose career you trashed three years ago?"

Gary felt a trace of annoyance. He remembered this guy, now. Three years back, when he first met Lisa, Gary took a neurological inhibitor made by the German mad scientist Dr. Walter Von Braun from Pete in order to rescue Lisa from the aforementioned scientist. He'd ended up accidentally injecting himself with the drug, making him very sick and in need of medical care on Lisa's home planet. When all was said and done, Lisa gave Von Braun a taste of his own medicine, and persuaded him to retire and donate everything he had to Parkinson's disease.

"Again," said Pete, "I don't know whether to trash you, myself, or thank you. On the one hand, the Doc paid well. On the other, I never would've found Adele if I hadn't gotten a job here."

"Hmm," murmured Gary. "But will _she_ be okay?" He pointed at Lisa, squeezing her hand tightly, trying to get a response.

"She's in a coma, and we don't know why. You don't want the people here working on her. They know nothing about what she is, and won't be able to help her. Me, however…I have a slight advantage. And I'm still friends with people from the Institute. I could call 'em in."

Gary felt as if he were on a see-saw, for while he felt that he wanted just about _anything_ to bring Lisa back, he wasn't sure if he wanted to trust the people who were going to experiment on her.

As if sensing his inner turmoil, Pete said, "Okay, look, dude, I can see you love her. If it were Adele lying in that bed, I'd want her well, no matter what. I'm a doctor, and I won't do anything to jeopardize her health."

Gary chewed on it, then, finally, relented. "Okay."

_End chapter six._


	7. Visitors

**In-Jokes: I suppose Adele's looks is me chanelling Flaming Trails' Dr. Gypsy Robinson.**

_Chapter Seven: Visitors_

Gary found out that the reason Lisa wasn't hooked up to the hospital machines because they couldn't monitor her alien physiology properly. After all, a heart monitor couldn't monitor two hearts, and her blood pressure would surely be different than a human's. Pete and Adele had to play it by ear, using what knowledge they had of Lisa's biological systems.

Dr. Adele Stewart, it turned out, was not only Pete's girlfriend, but the niece of the same Dr. Von Braun that wanted to experiment on Lisa three years ago. While she was interested in the idea of aliens and such in her younger years, and Von Braun had taught her everything he'd known at the time, she eventually grew out of it and went to regular medical school. Between her and Pete, they pooled their knowledge to try to figure out why Lisa was in a coma.

Unfortunately, it had been hours since she'd been admitted, and they were still none the wiser. They'd moved Lisa to a standard hospital room and a friend of Pete's, an electronics specialist from the Institute, jury-rigged a few of the machines using components from their old lab to monitor Lisa's alien physiology. Still, only authorized personnel were allowed into the room, and no one seemed to notice the slight discordant tone the new heart monitor was emitting.

Gary also had to go through questioning from the police, for Officer Bradshaw had tracked him down. He told Gary that the guy who robbed McGinty's got away, but they were still searching. Still numb, Gary was only able to give a very brief and vague statement, though the officer seemed satisfied for now and thankfully left.

It was eight o'clock at night when Gary was paged to the front desk. He had no intention of leaving Lisa's side at all, and, so, ignored it. A nurse had to come into Lisa's room to tell him that three people were out front waiting to see him. It had to be Marissa and, perhaps, Sue and Lucy.

"I can't leave her," whispered Gary, not taking his eyes off Lisa's still form. Her irregular right heart was still troubling him, but he couldn't tell Pete or Adele anything, really. While they knew she was alien, he didn't want to give the kid any incentive to want to try experimenting on her, again.

The nurse left the room and, a few minutes later, in walked Marissa, Sue and Lucy. When he didn't register their presence, Marissa called softly, "Gary?"

He jumped at her voice, then settled when he realized who it was. "Oh…hi."

"How is she?" asked Lucy.

"S-stable," stuttered Gary, blinking back tears. "But she's in a coma and they don't know why."

"She saved my life," Sue said quietly, standing beside Lisa and taking her other hand in hers. Her eyes fell on Lisa's x-ray, which he'd left on the end table. "Gary," she asked, picking it up. "Is this Lisa's x-ray?"

He looked up. "Er, yeah, but it's…" He remembered what Pete had told him earlier. "It's a double exposure." He moved to take it from her hands, but she moved away, frowning, examining the negative closely. "It can't be a double exposure."

"Why not?" asked Marissa. She, of course, knew Lisa had two hearts.

"Because there's damage to the one on the right."

"What?" chorused Gary, Lucy and Marissa together, Gary snatching the x-ray from her hands. Sue pointed to what looked like a small chunk missing from Lisa's right heart.

"Gary, what's going on?" asked Lucy.

"Uh…" he hedged. "Excuse me." He raced out of the room to the nurses' station. "I need Dr. Davis or Dr. Stewart, right away."

He stood and stared at the x-ray until Adele walked up to him. She was a petite woman with long red hair, plaited into a braid at the nape of her neck, green eyes and glasses.

"Yes, Gary?" she asked.

He held the x-ray under her nose, pointing at the irregularity. "Take a look at this."

She took the x-ray and looked closely at it. Her eyes widened. "I have to find Pete. Wait in her room."

_End chapter seven._


	8. Defects

_Chapter Eight: Defects_

Waiting in Lisa's room, unfortunately, brought Gary back with the girls, and Sue and Lucy proceeded to grill him about what was going on. Unable to avoid it, Gary explained to them that Lisa was not of Earth's origin. They, of course, were skeptical, especially since they were FBI agents and weren't light about such extravagant things.

Sue, however, remembered something from just before Lisa was shot. "I thought I…I thought I _heard_ something when she was running to me."

All of them looked at her. Marissa said, "I thought you were deaf."

"I am…I can't explain it. It's like I heard it…in my head. A voice, telling me to get down."

"That was Lisa," said Gary, once again at her bedside, holding her hand. "She's telepathic. I just didn't know she could speak that way to people she isn't linked to."

"Speak in what way?" asked Pete's voice from the doorway. Everyone turned and found him wheeling a gurney.

"What's that for?" Gary demanded, bypassing his question. Pete eyed the three women, and Gary said, "It's okay, they know."

Pete shrugged. "She has to be taken for another x-ray. That defect in her right heart isn't normal, even for her."

Gary started to stand. "I'm going with her."

"Gary, I know you'd rather not let her out of your sight, but you're not allowed in radiology. Help me get her on the gurney, will you?"

Reluctantly, Gary gently lifted Lisa, shifting her to the gurney with Pete's help. He wheeled her out, and Gary sat down heavily on the bed, staring at the floor, and put his head in his hands.

Sue and Marissa sat on either side of him, Marissa placing a hand on his arm in comfort. Lucy said, "Gary, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"You don't understand," he muttered. "That doctor is one of the assistants of the mad scientist that was out for Lisa three years ago." Too weak from depression to stop himself, he launched into the story of what happened. "I don't trust him, or his girlfriend, no matter what he says."

"Things will work out, Gary," said Marissa softly. "Everything happens for a reason, remember?"

"God works in mysterious ways," added Sue.

Gary scoffed. He couldn't help but think that things were going to grow steadily worse.

_End chapter eight._


	9. New Findings

_Chapter Nine: New Findings_

While he was waiting for Lisa to be returned to her room, Gary noticed the bag of her clothes and belongings resting on a chair. He went through it and pulled out her red jacket, holding it close to his body, breathing in the scent of her. More tears sprung to his eyes.

"I can't believe this…" he whispered hoarsely. His hands slipped to the pockets of the jacket and pulled out the Rascal Flatts concert tickets. "The concert…it's tomorrow night. Doesn't look like she'll be going…and she was so excited."

"You never know," said Marissa. "She might pull out of it before then. Lisa's a remarkable person."

"I know." Gary agreed, tucking the tickets safely back in the pocket of the jacket.

A pair of voices halted any further conversation as Pete and Adele wheeled a still-unconscious Lisa back into the room. An x-ray negative was resting on her lap. As the two doctors transferred Lisa from the gurney to the bed, Adele said, "Something's definitely going on, Gary. Her wounds have healed. Not by much, but enough to show a change when examined closely enough. And, take a look at this x-ray." She took the negative and held it so Gary could see, Sue and Lucy coming up alongside to peek.

"I don't see what – "

"I do," said Sue. She picked up the old x-ray and held it next to the new one and pointed. The chunk that was missing from Lisa's right heart was smaller, now, than it had been.

"She…she told me she healed fast," said Gary, who had returned to Lisa's side, holding her hand. "But she's never been shot before."

"The bullet must have clipped her heart," said Sue. "That could be what's causing the coma."

"I think she's right," said Lucy. They were beginning to believe, now, with the evidence staring them right in the face. "If we go by the x-rays, it's healing slowly."

"So are the gunshots," said Pete, bending over Lisa, listening to her hearts with his stethoscope. He pulled down the right shoulder of her hospital gown, where a gauze pad was covering one of the wounds. He pulled it down to show a raw, red hole in the flesh that looked partially healed, then covered it again. "The ones in her left leg are the same," he said.

Adele spoke up. "Truthfully, Gary, we don't have enough knowledge of her physiology to really know what's going on in her body. She's not human, and things with her work differently, you know this." She paused a moment. "Maybe…maybe Uncle Walter could help – "

"NO!" Gary shouted. "That maniac is getting _nowhere near her_, understand?"

Pete broke in. "I see where she's going, Gary. Look, the Doc knew a helluva lot more about her than anybody did. After all, he's been following her for, what, forty years?"

"No," Gary said venomously, glaring. "I don't want him anywhere near Lisa. Ever."

"I'm with Gary on this one," said Lucy. "From what we've been told, your uncle wanted to experiment on her. What would stop him from trying again?"

"Maybe the presence of two FBI agents…" said Marissa softly.

Lucy and Sue looked at each other. Sue said quietly, "Lisa saved my dog…I'll do anything to help her."

_End chapter nine._


	10. It's Worse

_Chapter Ten: It's Worse_

It was getting late, and, so Marissa, Sue and Lucy had to leave. Gary, of course, had no intention of going _anywhere_, especially with the idea of calling in Adele's uncle running around their heads. He still wouldn't allow it, knowing full well what could happen.

Once the hospital was quiet and he was almost sure no one would come poking into Lisa's room, Gary positioned himself beside her on the bed, holding her gently in his arms, stroking her hair.

"Lisa?" he called to her, softly. "Lisa, can you hear me?"

Still getting no response, he, once again, tried telepathy. _Lisa, please answer me. Lisa?_

Gary had hoped that she might've recovered enough to communicate in even the slightest way to him, but his hopes were smashed when he still received no reply. He cried himself to sleep that night.

He awoke the next morning to the usual "Meow!" of the cat. For a fleeting moment, Gary thought it had all been a dream and he was back home in his own bed, Lisa beside him, well and healthy. Then, he heard the beeping of the heart monitor and smelled the sterile conditions of the hospital, and he knew.

Groaning, he slowly opened his eyes to find the cat sitting on the paper at the foot of the bed. His attention was on Lisa, first, however.

"Good morning, Lisa," he said to her, kissing her gently on the lips. '_Morning,_ he said telepathically, as well. She didn't respond to either greeting. Sighing, he glared at the cat. "Forget it, Cat," he practically growled. "I'm not leaving her."

Although it was never obvious that the orange tabby could understand Gary when he spoke to it, according to Lisa, he did, for she never had to translate anything to the feline. Unfortunately, now without Lisa, Gary wouldn't be able to understand a thing the cat would say.

The cat sidled up between them, as if giving Lisa his own examination, and then looked at Gary, meowing, trotting over to lounge on top of the paper.

"I don't care," Gary said to it. "I'm not leaving her."

The cat growled and glared back, obviously wanting him to read the paper.

"No," he said. "No, I'm not leaving her."

The cat hissed, then left the bed, its back leg pushing the paper closer towards him. Gary shook his head and moved to lie back down, then his eyes caught the bold headline of the front page of the paper. It read, "FBI AGENTS SHOT OUTSIDE HOTEL".

Picking up the paper, he read the article.

**FBI AGENTS SHOT OUTSIDE HOTEL**

Visiting FBI agents, Sue Thomas and Lucy Dotson, were shot outside  
their hotel yesterday afternoon at 1:30PM. Witnesses report that the  
shooter was the same man who robbed McGinty's bar earlier this week.

He didn't read further. The paper shook in Gary's hands and he dropped it on the end table. "No," he said. "I'm not leaving her…Lisa, I'm not leaving you." He clung to her tightly. "I'm not…" Tears fell from his eyes. This was absolute torture. He wasn't sure how much longer he could handle this.

_End chapter ten._


	11. Priorities

_Chapter Eleven: Priorities_

Five hours and two x-rays later, the gunshot wounds in Lisa's shoulder and leg were almost gone and the nick in her right heart was now the size of a dime. However, she was still in a coma and not responding to anything Gary did to bring her out of it.

Moreover, Sue and Lucy were still in danger of being shot and he was being haunted by images of the shooter, the gun, the two women, and he could hear Levi barking. Still, he couldn't bring himself to leave her side, for Pete and Adele were still talking about calling in Von Braun, although the healing injuries were causing them to hold off on it for the moment.

He'd briefly spoken to Marissa on the phone, but he didn't tell her about what was in the paper. He knew she'd try to talk him out of leaving Lisa, and he wouldn't have it. He _couldn't_ leave her. Not now. Not while she needed him.

He did, however, try calling the hotel to get a hold of Sue and Lucy, but they were out of the room. He'd left a message with the front desk for them to get in touch with him as soon as they returned.

As the clock ticked closer and closer to 1:30, he found himself more and more haunted by the article. He dozed off beside Lisa, sleeping fitfully. He could almost see the shooter, Sue and Lucy. Levi was barking, and beneath it all was Lisa's voice, urging him to go help. There was the sound of a gun, and…

Gary awoke with a start, breathing hard, and glanced down at Lisa's still unmoving body. In his head, he could still hear her pleading with him to help Sue and Lucy.

_Lisa?_ he tried. _Lisa?_

Once again, she didn't answer. Gary sighed and put his head in his hands, then grabbed the paper, put on his shoes and headed out of the door and out of the hospital. He hailed a cab to the hotel and checked the time: 1:05PM

The cab, unfortunately, got stuck in traffic. Panicked, Gary said to the cabbie, "Look, uh, just let me off here." He handed the driver money and left the cab, taking off down the street at a run. By the time he arrived at the hotel, he had mere minutes.

He looked around and found Sue and Lucy talking to each other outside the hotel. Levi was at their side, waiting patiently for them to finish.

"Sue! Lucy!" Gary shouted to them, waving his arms. "Get into the hotel!"

Sue, obviously, couldn't hear, and Lucy only noticed Gary running up to them. She waved to him, and called, "Hey, Gary! How's Lisa? Is she any better?"

"Girls, get _into_ the hotel!" he yelled as he came closer. His eyes fell on Levi. "Levi, get them inside, quick!" Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar figure in the crowd. The guy who robbed McGinty's; he started to reach inside his jacket.

The dog wasted no time. He barked and dragged Sue into the hotel building as someone exited, Lucy following in alarm, and Gary tackled the shooter, pinning his arms down so he couldn't reach the gun.

"Somebody call the police!" Gary shouted, grunting with the effort of holding the guy down. He would have lost him had Lisa not clamped her telekinetics onto him.

Gary looked up, shocked. "Lisa!" he croaked.

"Shh," she said, her voice strained. "Just hold him down…"

Lucy appeared, wide-eyed, with a gun in one hand and her badge in the other. "FBI! Hang on, Gary…" She pulled out a pair of handcuffs and manacled the crook's hands behind his back.

Sirens wailed in the background and Sue and Levi came out of the hotel, Levi barking and heading straight for Lisa.

"Gary…" Lisa groaned, and collapsed right into his waiting arms.

"Oh, Lisa…" he whispered, holding her close.

"Hey…" she whispered back, one hand lifting to caress his cheek.

Gary and Lisa kissed as police cars appeared on the scene. It was finally over.

_End chapter eleven._


	12. This Everyday Love

**In-Jokes: "This Everyday Love" is a Rascal Flatts song. The healing coma is an idea gacked with permission from Flaming Trails. Gary's grief is largely my own from not having my husband around when I need him. The friend of Rascal Flatts' whose husband is a marine is, of course, me. The song they sing is me and Ed's song, "Bless the Broken Road".**

_Chapter Twelve: This Everyday Love_

Six hours later, after arrests were made, police statements had been taken, Lisa's stuff had been retrieved and explanations had been given to Pete and Adele at the hospital – and, really, they weren't going to argue with the same person who'd almost killed Walter Von Braun – Sue, Lucy, Levi, Marissa, Gary and Lisa were all gathered in Gary's loft above McGinty's.

Lisa admitted that, while she knew she healed fast, she had no idea what would happen if she were shot. She'd never had a serious wound like that before. Now, however, she knew.

"It was a healing coma," she explained, "because a bullet clipped my right heart. Would've killed a human, of course. I kind of heal from the inside out, like a horse does. Left alone, the bullets would've been expelled from my body, too."

"This is amazing," said Sue. "You really are what Gary and Marissa said you were."

"Yeah," Lisa said, smiling. She'd let her wings show five minutes ago and explained her ability to speak to animals. "As for the me speaking telepathically to you thing, I did."

"I was able to hear it in my head…" whispered Sue. "I _heard_…"

"Speaking like that to someone I'm not linked to takes a lot of effort," Lisa said. "I probably couldn't do it again unless I'm under that much strain again. Huh. No wonder I got shot." Levi sat at her side, his chin on her lap, watching her carefully as if he expected her to keel over at any second.

She scratched behind his ears. "Really, boy, I'm fine. Not a hundred percent, but I will be in another day or so."

Levi whined. "**_I worry…you saved me…"_**

"Seems to me I worried a lot of people."

"You saved my life," said Sue. "And Levi's."

"Yeah, he just reminded me of that." She turned to Gary, who was sitting beside her, holding her hand as tight as he had in the hospital. She didn't really need the link to know what he was feeling. "Guys, can we have a minute?"

They nodded and left. Gary's string finally snapped and he broke down, sobbing. Lisa held him close, stroking his hair gently.

"It's okay, Gar. I'm okay."

Too upset to speak aloud, he said telepathically, his thoughts trembling, _You scared me_…_I was so afraid I'd lose you_…_Lisa, please don't do that again_…

"Shh," she soothed, tears in her own eyes, now. "I'm sorry, Gary. I couldn't let her be shot. You know that. You know _me_." She sighed. "I'm so sorry."

_I love you so much_…_I can't stand the thought of losing you_…

"I love you, too, Gar." She pulled away slightly to look in his eyes. "Look, how about we put it past us for tonight and go to that concert?"

Gary sniffled and managed a small, wan smile.

"Great," she said. "I have a phone call to make…"

An hour later, they were sitting front row center at the PAC while Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus were singing on stage. Beside Gary and Lisa were Sue, Lucy and Marissa – and, if one wonders what a deaf person was doing at a concert, she wasn't about to say no to Lisa, plus she'd be able to get a feel for the music by the vibrations in the floor. Somehow, Lisa had scored extra tickets for them, as well. She wasn't telling, and when they asked, all she did was smile.

Gary LeVox had just finished singing and was gesturing to the audience to quiet down their applause for the moment so he could speak.

"Thank you all," he said into the microphone. "I'd like to take a minute before we do the next song, because two good friends of ours want me to dedicate it to their significant others. Our one friend's husband is in the marines, and this is their song, so it's dedicated to them. Also, our other friend is in the audience right now, and we owe her a great deal for some…some stuff she did for us. We'll be in touch."

Gary looked at Lisa, who smiled and kissed him as the band played the intro to the song and LeVox began to sing.

"_I set out on a narrow way many years ago, hoping I would find true love along the broken road. But I got lost a time or two; wiped my brow, kept pushin' through. I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you. Every long-lost dream led me to where you are. Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars pointing me on my way into your loving arms. This much I know is true, that god blessed the broken road that led me straight to you_…"

_The End_


End file.
